


Magnets and the Upsides and Downsides of Synchronicity

by Diary



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Family, Fluff, Getting Together, Late Night Conversations, Literal Sleeping Together, Love, M/M, Male Friendship, POV Tyler Winklevoss, Pre-Canon, Romance, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29955846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: Pre-Movie. Divya moves into the Winklevoss' dorm until he can get a new roommate, and he and Cameron end up getting together. Shown from Tyler's POV. Complete.
Relationships: Divya Narendra & Cameron Winklevoss & Tyler Winklevoss, Divya Narendra/Cameron Winklevoss
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Magnets and the Upsides and Downsides of Synchronicity

Coming into his and Cameron’s dorm, Tyler sees Divya stretched out on their window seat.

“Missing my brother?”

“I hate my roommate,” is the clipped reply. “And since you and Cam both owe me for that perfect score last semester, I’m sleeping here.”

“On the window bench?”

“No, out on the window seal.” Opening his eyes, Divya’s expression is even more sarcastic than his tone.

“We only have two beds, and you’re practically falling off that.”

Divya shrugs. “Usually, I’m all for the government staying the hell out of consensual sexual practises between adults, but my roommate is a freak, and if I could report him for sexual deviancy, I would.”

He thinks Cameron might have spoiled Divya with his monk-like ways, God knows what he had to put up with from his own roommate when Cameron was Divya’s, but sticking to the facts rather than offering his unsolicited opinion is likely to have more success in this instance. “Div, you can’t sleep on our window seat, and the only way you’re sleeping in one of the beds is if two of the three of us share a bed.”

“I can sleep on your window seat, and I will, because, if not for me, you and Cameron both wouldn’t have gotten that perfect grade. Unlike my asshole, freak of a roommate, I promise I won’t bring anyone to your dorm, and if either of you do- you know what, fine. I will deal with it. I’m fairly confident neither of you is a sexual deviant.”

I’m letting Cam handle this, he decides. “I’m getting something to drink. You want something?”

“No, I’m good.”

…

On his bed, he watches as, hauling Divya up, Cameron arranges them both in actual chairs.

“Divya, the bench can’t be comfortable, and you might literally fall off during the night. What exactly has this new roommate done?”

“I won’t fall off.”

“Has he done anything illegal?” Cam persists.

“Probably,” Divya answers, “but if he’d done something illegal enough that reporting him would actually do something, I’d have already reported him.”

Cameron gives him the look that says _We need to feed our friend before he does something like punching the TA in his economics class_.

He gets up to find some food.

For them, they’ve always had to stay on top of their diets, eating plenty of calories, not skipping meals, being careful not to overdo it on empty calories, but Divya was going through the typical freshman adjustment period of either eating too much junk or going for long periods of time with no food passing through his lips when they first met him. At first, it wasn’t really their business, he was Cam’s roommate and a cool guy to hang around but not someone they had any real responsibility to worry over, but then- Div probably _wouldn’t_ have punched that TA, but all the same, he’d locked Divya out of Divya’s laptop, and Cam had coaxed a sandwich and some tea down Divya.

After Divya eats some of the cereal and Graham crackers, it comes out: His roommate has literally brought someone to the dorm every single night. Sometimes, more than one somebody. There’s been bondage and other things that, looking too traumatised to get into, Divya doesn’t get into.

It hits him: He’s going to be sharing his bed with Cam, because, there’s no way he’s sharing his bed with Divya or giving up his bed to sleep in Cameron’s.

His former roommate sucked, but it was normal they tried to do it quietly under the covers the few times he couldn’t find somewhere else to be.

“And if I wanted to watch porn, I’d follow the etiquette for it, but even if I did, I wouldn’t want to watch-” Divya makes a motion with his hands.

He concentrates on the fact Cameron’s clearly wondering if Divya’s new roommate might actually be involved in porn production (he does not ever want to know anything about Div’s porn preferences or even lack thereof).

If the roommate is, this would definitely help them get Divya a new one.

…

They try for three hours, and by supper time, the school is still being unreasonable about not giving Divya a new roommate.

And so, they end up helping Divya retrieve some stuff from the dorm to take back to theirs.

Afterwards, they leave him to study while they go practise rowing.

“How are things going with that girl in your sociology class,” Cameron asks.

Even knowing Cam can’t see, he rolls his eyes. His brother doesn’t ask him about girls, and he doesn’t ask Cameron about- anyone.

Last year, he asked about Divya, and he believed Cameron telling him Divya had an on-and-off girlfriend. More-than-this, he believes Cameron believes the careful implications given that Divya is straight and might have a problem finding out a roommate maybe isn’t.

He’s not really sure where he falls on the former, but he knows Cam is wrong about the latter.

“I’m not going to try to convince some girl to take me to her bed so that he can have my bed. You can sleep in mine, and that’s the best either of you will get.”

“My bed will smell like him tomorrow, Ty.”

“Then, wash your sheets early.”

He considers asking why this would be any sort of deal, but the silence tells him this is one of those areas where he shouldn’t.

…

Divya looks at them as if they’re crazy, and he resents this.

The fact Divya, if given the opportunity to save one of them, would save Cam is part of what makes him genuinely love Divya, but they’ve been in agreement pretty much since he met Divya that his brother is the crazy one, the embarrassing one, the one with certain strange notions that must be mocked.

“I got the two of you a perfect score in one class, I didn’t get either of you a 4.0 in freshman year. I’ll take the window seat. A blanket would be nice, though.”

What makes Cameron so annoying on occasion is: His brother is a goody-goody people-pleaser who probably secretly reads Dear Abby and Miss Manners. He always charmed adults with ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’ and knowing which fork and spoon and knife was for what, but beyond annoying into, yes, he’s not-secretly offended, is the fact Cameron has always been deemed by their parents to be the more trustworthy, responsible one.

Cameron might be more willing to admit things or go to them for advice, but Cameron has lied and manipulated just as much as he has.

Despite this, Cam isn’t alone in feeling it isn’t right for their friend to sleep on a bench when they have the ability to offer him a bed.

“Could a freshman even pull a 4.0,” Cameron dryly inquires. “C’mon, Div, just take the bed. Or you could take Tyler’s.”

Of course, the book he throws doesn’t hit Cameron; the downside of synchronicity.

“I’ll take the couch,” Divya says.

“Window seat,” he corrects.

“Whatever.” Divya rolls his eyes. “It’s not either of your faults I have a sex deviant for a roommate, and so, I’m not going to make you two share a bed so that I can have one of yours.”

“Cameron’s,” he has to make clear. “I consider you an honorary brother, Divya, but I’m not giving up my bed for you, even if it were somehow my fault, and I’m not sharing with you either. In-utero trumps best friend.”

Divya chuckles, but he notices Cameron isn’t echoing his sentiment.

“Or you could share with Cameron. Wouldn’t be the first time, would it?”

“We were drunk,” Cameron protests.

“Alright, listen: I’m cool, genuinely cool, with crashing on your bench. I just- can’t take anymore of-” Divya legitimately shudders. “I’ll figure something out in a night or two, but for now, I’m taking it.”

…

Divya ends up taking the window seat, and when they get back from practise in the morning to get him up, he’s obviously sore and uncomfortable, but he isn’t irritable about it.

“Maybe,” Divya says later, when Cameron isn’t around, “I could afford a cheap apartment near campus.”

He knows why Cameron isn’t around.

“Or, if you absolutely can’t get a new roommate, you can keep crashing with us until next semester. We could make sure you’re Cameron’s roommate again.”

“I just need a normal, non-sex deviant roommate,” Div groans.

“I know I’m going to sound like my brother here, but have you tried just talking to him?”

“You always sound like your brother. I still can’t tell you and Cameron apart on the phone. And yes, I was mature and responsible and attempted having a civilised conversation with him. More than once. The word ‘puritan’ was used. By him. I object to that on several different levels.”

“You did remember to eat before you tried these civilised conversations, right,” he asks.

Divya rolls his eyes. “Yes. Again, I wouldn’t have actually punched that TA.”

“Just making sure.”

He thinks, considering Div’s eyes were closed when he came in yesterday, Divya might have gotten to a point where he can distinguish them via voice alone, but maybe not.

“We should design a website that can, somehow, help people avoid this sort of thing,” Divya says. “This person is a psycho who is into things that, though consensual, should be illegal, only match them with another freak of nature.”

“Well, to play the devil’s advocate, if you happen to find a nice girl with an adventurous side-”

“And now, you do sound disturbingly like Cameron. I would never be like-” Again with the hand motions. “I have respect for the fact other people share a sleeping space with me. When I meet a nice girl I can take home to my parents, who can take me home to hers, we’ll probably check into a cheap hotel on occasion or, at most, I’ll put a sock on one of our doors when no other roommates are around, and it won’t be great, but it’ll be done before anyone gets back, because, that’s how college should be, not staging pornless porn productions every single night!”

He and Cameron have dragged Divya to meet up with their parents several times already, and their parents adore him, but the thought hits him, _Cam could take you home to our parents_.

He’s not sure Divya could or, if so, would even be willing to, do the same.

…

In the gym, Divya quizzes them as they work out.

“I’m thinking A,” Cameron says.

“B,” he says.

“It’s C. Ambiguous wording. Tyler, you were focused on the word ‘widespread’, and Cam, you were focused on the numbers.”

Cameron glances over. “My math was off?”

“No. If this was a numbers problem, A would be right, but this is about psychology.”

“Then, how is B not right?”

“Because, ‘widespread’ led you into thinking correlation implies causation.”

At Cameron’s glare, he says, “Don’t start. Bad call on my part, got it, but that Russian literature class you chose is still the worst academic mistake we’ve made.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Cameron mutters.

Glancing over, he sees Divya is looking at them with a soft look of fondness that he doesn’t see often.

“Alright, next question,” Divya says. “In the event of a global pandemic, the best way for global leaders to respond would be…”

…

After his shower, he comes out to find, sitting on Cam’s bed, Divya is massaging one of Cameron’s feet.

“We’re involving my parents,” Divya declares.

“We?”

At Divya’s nudge, Cameron shifts enough so that his other foot is in Div’s lap.

“You two get to be my silent moral support when I call them tomorrow. I haven’t done anything wrong, but the word ‘sex’ in a conversation with my parents-” Divya practically flushes white.

One of Cameron’s hands finds Div’s shoulder.

Getting on his own bed, he asks, “When are you calling?”

“Probably before lunch. You shower first, Cam.”

…

After Cameron and Divya have both showered, the three of them get to studying, and he likes Harvard, he generally liked school growing up, but once he graduates, if he ever has to study for anything ever again-

Div falls asleep sitting up, and guiding him into a laying position, Cameron looks over.

They’ve learned, with certain people, like Divya, normal talking has no chance of waking them, but whispering can come close to yelling in terms of having them jolt awake, and so, being careful to keep his tone the same volume as if Divya weren’t anywhere near them, he asks, “Coming over here?”

Shaking his head, Cameron gets all the books and their laptops piled onto the night-stand. “I think-” He hesitates. “If he wakes up, there’s a better chance he might stay if I’m here.”

He has no clue if Cam is right or not, but he knows he and Cameron both would prefer it if Cameron stayed in bed with Divya.

Clearing off his own bed, he makes sure the alarm is set, and by the time he gets the lights, Cameron has joined Divya in sleep.

…

Divya was still asleep when they get back from practise, and maybe, Cameron should have gotten back in bed when they did.

“As if either of you couldn’t have easily gotten me back onto the love couch.”

“Eat some more before you keep lecturing, Div,” Cameron says.

Scowling, Divya drinks some more juice. “Window seat. My point still stands.”

“Hopefully, your parents will be able to help get you a new roommate soon. Until then, seriously, just crash on Cameron’s bed.”

Divya gives Cameron a look that clearly says he thinks Cameron should object or, at least, question this.

Someday, Divya might know Cameron as well as, if not better than, he does, but that day is not today.

…

The phone call to Divya’s parents went- okay.

It could have gone worse. Div didn’t actually hyperventilate, likely due to Cameron keeping steady physical contact, and Divya’s parents promised they’d start making calls and sending emails immediately.

Still, Divya is wound up, and sitting on a bench with Cameron, they watch him pacing around the courtyard.

“I can’t believe this. I graduated cum laude, despite the scholarships, my parents are paying some tuition, and yet-”

It’s fascinating watching how easily, how instinctively, Cameron redirects Divya from tripping over a rock. He’s mostly learned when to throw his arm out to keep Div from leaping out of chairs, but more often than not, Divya still ends up tripping over things when agitated or just overexcited.

“My choices for having a bed are either: Sleep in the room that’s essentially a porn studio, or sleep in my best friends’ dorm. Where as pointed out,” Divya gestures, “it’s either a window bench or someone has to share a bed. I should only have to share a bed if I’m in a relationship, in which case, it wouldn’t exactly be a case of have to, and no twenty-something Harvard student should have to share with their twin.”

Taking a deep breath, Divya finishes, “Okay. I’m sitting down now.” When he does, he continues, “You two could offer to beat him up for me.”

For all he’d be happy to really do this, he knows all the reasons he and Cam can’t.

“Being hauled before the administrative board would likely fully negate all the good of that perfect score you got us,” Cameron says. “How about this: I’ll buy you a sundae tonight and promise to wear socks to bed for as long as you’re crashing with us. And you can keep crashing with us for as long as you need.”

Div looks at him, and he nods.

“Alright,” Divya sighs. “Thanks, guys.”

…

In a week, they’re going to have their first big competition for the year, and the school’s promised, within a month, they should have a new roommate for Divya.

“We should get a couch. One with a fold-out bed.”

Adjusting his grip on his oars, he says, “After he gets a new roommate, give it a little time, and we can. If we do it now-”

“Yeah,” Cam quietly says.

“Hey. Uh, is there an actual problem? If so-”

“No. It’s not a problem. And that’s part of-” Cameron doesn’t finish.

He wonders what the chances of hacking Harvard’s network, getting Div’s roommate kicked out that way, and not being caught realistically are.

When they were thirteen, he was embarrassingly overdramatic over some girl whose last name he can’t even remember now.

Last year, for their birthday, Divya got him a set of high-quality cufflinks and Cameron a hardback, leather-bound copy of Indian fairytales, because, Cameron repeatedly insisted and had him repeatedly insist (and even somewhat got their parents in on the action) that this is what Divya should get Cameron (a paperback would have been fine; Cameron just wanted his own copy of this book he found in Divya’s luggage).

He’d seen Divya had an exit all worked out, but Cameron had barely gotten the wrapping all off before he turned into a sort of magnet who couldn’t be more than six feet from Divya and couldn’t have the book more than a few inches away from him for the rest of the party.

“Hey, did you know this roommate called him a puritan?”

Cameron makes a small sound. “It was mentioned. Along with a three-hour lecture on why Clinton’s implementation of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is going to put us at-risk for the draft being reintroduced.”

“Held your sunglasses hostage again?”

“Yep. I really need to get a few extra spares.”

…

They quickly get used to Divya crashing with them.

What he and Cameron didn’t think about, however, was: Now that he and Cameron are rooming together again, there’s no reason why their dad wouldn’t let himself into their dorm. Before Harvard, one of their parents would always leave notes of encouragement the night before any big competition.

And so, he wakes up to the sound of his dad coming in, and it’s not until he manages to make out the expression on his dad’s face that he remembers Div.

Still, until he sits up to look over, he thinks this will be easy to handle. They’d already told their parents a little about Divya’s roommate issues.

But then, he finds himself looking at his brother and Divya, and he recognises this might not be so easy to spin.

A person looking at them might choose to apply a completely platonic interpretation to the sight, after all, Divya is wearing pyjamas, and Cameron is wearing a t-shirt, but he has his doubts most people wouldn’t have, at least, an initial feeling they were looking at a couple. Just friends, family, even, wouldn’t be sleeping in such a position, wouldn’t have the soft, content expressions his brother and Divya do.

Hoping to God that Cameron doesn’t wake up, he says, “Hey, Dad. Don’t whisper. It’ll wake Divya up. Let’s go- talk somewhere else.”

Cam stirs slightly but doesn’t wake, and their dad nods.

…

They go to a nearby all-night diner.

“Div’s been crashing with us until he can get a new roommate. The first night, he insisted on sleeping on our window seat, but the second, he fell asleep studying on Cameron’s bed.”

His dad sighs. “It’s nice of you to help your friend out.”

“Dad-”

“Tyler, it’s fine,” his dad quietly says. “You know, when your mother was pregnant, I was terrified. To tell the truth, that terror’s never fully gone away. I remember when I first held you and Cameron. I promised you both I’d always try to make sure that, barring becoming fathers yourself, neither of you would ever know any sort of terror.”

“But,” his dad smiles a little sadly, “as you grew- you two have always been so brave. So resolute when it comes to things you believe matter.”

“It’s not like that, Dad. Cameron isn’t afraid or ashamed. I don’t know the Narendras, and Cam only knows them a little better. Whether he’s right to be concerned or not, Divya doesn’t want anyone to know right now, and this isn’t the point where that’s a dealbreaker.”

The utter relief radiating off his dad eases the guilt.

“Either way, I won’t tell your mother. How long have they been together?”

“I’m not entirely sure. It happened pretty soon after the semester started, but they’re still arguing over when and how exactly it happened.”

Chuckling, his dad nods. “I thought- maybe, your and his birthday last year.”

“No. Divya had a girlfriend. That’s just when we really became friends. Divya and Cameron were doing okay as roommates, but he thought inviting Divya to our party might help break the ice some more.”

“He seems like a good kid. A nice boy.”

“He is. Dad, I promise you, if Cameron ever got involved with someone I thought was truly bad for him, if I needed to, I’d involve you and Mom. Divya is a great guy. He can be a little-” He’s not sure what the best word would be. “Cameron keeps him grounded, and just being around him makes Cameron happy.”

Giving him a genuine smile, his dad wryly replies, “I noticed.”

…

When he gets back, Cam and Divya are still sound asleep.

In the morning, the three of them meet his dad in the dining hall. Hugging them, he says, “Sorry, boys. Your mother will be here soon. She’s yelling at your aunt.”

Catching Divya’s eyes, he shakes his head.

He and Cam love their aunt, but the truth is: She deserves it every time their mother screams at her over the phone.

Their dad greets Divya, and shaking his hand, Divya starts, “Mr Winklevoss. If you’ll excuse me-”

“You’re eating with us,” he declares.

Divya doesn’t like eating with them with before competitions. He and Cameron have to have a lighter than normal meal, and for some reason neither he or Cameron can grasp and Divya can’t adequately explain, Divya is uncomfortable eating a normal meal near them when they aren’t.

But if Divya isn’t around, their dad might start heavily hinting things at Cameron, and since, in all technicality, Cameron isn’t in a relationship with Div, at best, their dad would just be a little sad, and at worst, Cameron would catch onto what was being hinted at and be honest.

They all get breakfast, and Divya isn’t really eating, but the fact he and their dad are in a deep conversation about something Clinton apparently did right keeps Cam from concentrating too much on this fact.

Then, they’re informed the other team is going to be rowing with a replacement. The idiot being replaced got himself alcohol poisoning.

He and Cameron are different when it comes to what freaks them out in regards to rowing. He gets bothered when there are reasonable things to get bothered over, and Cameron gets twitchy if either team has to have a last-minute replacement.

“There is a precedent for… And what if…”

Squeezing their dad’s arm, he starts, “I’ll go get-”

However, before he can leave to go get their mom, grabbing Cam’s arm, Div says, “Hey, look, first of all, I’m eating, okay?” Divya takes a bite of his food. “Second, don’t worry about it. Win this race for me. Someday, I’ll tell everyone about how my best friends, one of whom is my former roommate, absolutely kicked the asses of some team our sophomore year.”

He’s not surprised this works, but at the same time, he is a little surprised at- He knew Cam loves Divya, genuine love, as a friend, knew Cam wants more than friendship, but watching this scene, it hits him: There’s an honest-to-God chance a different sort of love could bloom.

…

They win.

After their parents leave, he waits until they’re practising in the tank to say, “Dad thinks you and Divya are boyfriends.”

Cameron doesn’t drop his oar, but there’s a second where it’s a possibility.

“What? Why? How?” Then, “He didn’t say anything, not to me, and if he did to you-”

“He came in to leave us notes, and I did tell him the truth. And then, because he was disappointed in himself as a father, I told him what was only technically a lie. Cam, you have a three-thousand dollar watch hidden in your underwear drawer.”

Divya grew up with money, and he resents the impression of certain others that he’s purely a scholarship kid. His parents, however, made sure he grew up understanding and respecting the worth of a dollar, and bluntly, Doctors Narendra don’t have the sort of money their parents have.

Objectively, he and Cameron do understand 3K for a watch is ridiculous. Their dad has bought their mom jewellery for less. _They’ve_ bought their mom jewellery for less, and this is how it happened:

Divya was with them when they were shopping for a mother’s day present, and he’d admired a watch.

Cameron had bought the watch when Divya was somewhere else, he doesn’t remember if he was somewhere else, too, or not, and then, when he and Cameron realised Cameron couldn’t give this to Divya, Cameron hadn’t returned it. The receipt might still be around, but since this was over a year ago-

“That’s-” Cameron doesn’t continue.

“I told him you weren’t afraid or ashamed. That Divya was worried about how his parents might take things and that’s why it’s being kept secret for the moment.”

“Except, we literally aren’t.”

“Yeah. Literally. I saw the same thing Dad did. I’ve been seeing it since last year.”

 _Win this race for me_.

For all Divya could write a dissertation on everything Clinton did wrong (and might if holding Cameron’s sunglasses hostage when he feels the need to rant stops being an option), he has a feeling Divya might come close to truly hating their current President. However, because of reasons Cameron would probably understand and he wouldn’t, Divya will wait until January 21, 2009 to say anything that isn’t neutral or complimentary (the latter of which will probably never happen) about Bush.

Maybe, though, come 2009, there will be a President who makes gay marriage a nation-wide legal reality, and if so- he could definitely do worse for a brother-in-law than Div.

“Let’s stop for a minute,” he says.

They do.

“Look, Cam, when it comes down to it, I’ll tell Dad whatever you want me to. But- hey, do you remember that girl I liked when we were thirteen?”

It turns out Cameron remembers her last name, her birthday, and the fact she was allergic to chocolate.

“I don’t really think about her. I remember how I felt, I remember how beautiful her eyes looked at some dance when she was dancing with some of her girlfriends, I remember I made her laugh once in Biology, but I hardly ever think about her. If you don’t take a chance, in seven something years, do you think you’d be able to say the same about Divya?”

There’s silence.

“We still need to practise,” Cameron says.

They start again.

When they get out, Cameron sighs. “Yeah. I’ll talk to him soon.”

…

The night before Divya is scheduled to move in with a new roommate, he walks into the dorm, and on Cameron’s bed, Cam and Divya spring apart.

They were kissing.

“Am I interrupting something,” he teases.

“Yeah, no, I’m gonna-” Divya might have tripped getting out of bed if not for Cameron grabbing him.

The two look at one another, and he realises with a pang: Divya and Cameron are talking without talking the same way he and Cameron have been able to do their whole lives.

Divya slumps against Cameron. “So, uh, I’m dating your brother now.”

“About time,” he comments.

By the time he’s changed and sitting on his own bed, Divya is calmer, and he and Cameron are holding hands.

“We’re going to tell Mom and Dad soon,” Cameron says.

“And if that goes okay, we’ll talk some more about telling my parents. I never tell them about anyone until I’ve gone on, at least, three dates with the person.”

He considers saying: Don’t hurt my brother.

Cameron would, eventually, pay him back if he did.

Divya catches his eyes, and he sees: I won’t. I promise.

Everything eases in him, too, and he’s just happy for his brother and best friend.


End file.
